In the Arms of the Enemy
by glubbingwwhales
Summary: The sequel to Behind the King's Walls Karkat and John have been working at the castle for three years now under the Queen's rule but when something big happens, it's up to them and a few friends to leave on a mission.
1. Chapter 1

a href=" story/story_ ?storyid=8476580&chapter=1"This is the sequel to Behind the King's Walls. Click here to read it first./a

== Three years later

Karkat stood at the head of the dining table and set down the last piece of paper he had been holding. "And that's why we need a new system here. I think the best system for work hours would be from an hour before the Queen and former King wake up at nine o' clock; eight o' clock A.M."

There was silence at the table until John raised his hand. The Queen nodded at him. "John? You're opinion on the idea?"  
John nodded at her before turning to Karkat. "I agree with the idea. I think it would make it easier for us to get enough sleep, resulting in more energy and less weariness by the end of the day. Before we were getting up at five or six A.M. depending on the time of year and when the sun rose, making it hard to summon the energy for the chores that needed to be done when we were being sent to sleep at eleven. With only six hours of sleep we couldn't work properly. With this new plan of going to sleep at eleven and waking up at eight, we'll be able to get nine hours of sleep and still get things done.

"If I were to have my chores and jobs mostly done before I went to bed, when I woke up the next morning I wouldn't have to do much anyway so an hour is plenty of time. Same for most other jobs. Like taking Sollux for example, an hour is plenty of time to cook breakfast, right? He can get up and cook breakfast in the morning with plenty of time left before he even has to worry about the Queen and former King waking up."  
The Queen seemed to approve of John's addition to the ideas.

In the last three years, some positions had been changed. Karkat was no longer a partial outlaw sitting in the prison below ground level with John . Karkat was assigned the Queens organizer. He was to do things like lay out clothes for her in the morning and make sure she had enough of the things she needed like soap and things of the like. He would also do things like clean off her glasses before she woke up, made sure her schedule was empty for things she needed to do in the daytime, made sure if the maid was needed to clean the Queen's room that she was aware and granted permission to enter, and that everyone else was doing their jobs correctly.

He was good at what he did and he enjoyed his work. Tavros was upgraded from a slave title to something more fitting for a kingdom ruled by such a Queen, as Royal Servant. His job was made mostly the same but he was given more respect for the hard work he put in and was given the treatment a human being deserved instead of treated like an animal. Sollux was also given another job he was rather fond of; he was now not only the chef but doubled as the engineer. He built things of importance that could be used in the kingdom instead of just leaving his ingenious inventions to rot in the shadows of his bedroom. Vriska was no longer pretending to be in charge of everyone else like she had tricked the king into letting her do. She was given a reason for her job. The queen had a grand piano put into the near-empty main room and she played piano at certain hours of the day, Dave occasionally accompanying her.

Dave's main job when not assisting in Vriska's musical act, consisted of writing a column in the Royal City newspaper. He was found to have a knack for writing and wrote about new laws and events having to do with the goings on of the castle. Rose was to join Jade in the garden, her future telling no longer needed. Jade was the gardener and would plant vegetables and fruits used in the kitchen, Rose became her assistant and helps tend to plants and harvest when they're done growing.

Gamzee stayed in his position as Jester but was of much more use to the Queen who had a more energetic and lighthearted sense of humor, enjoying his company and his whispered jokes as he sat by her throne. The nurse was no longer just an emergency tool for the kingdom. Her office acted as the official medical ward for the city. People weren't being treated as needed and when the Queen came to recognize this, she set the nurse to work, chastising the old King for not working his servants right. Equius was no longer appointed to torture. He guarded the doors of the Queen's bedroom, only allowing those with clearance. Nepeta was of much more use now as the nurse's assistant and her and Equius were happily in the pale quadrant, as she finally worked up the nerve to write to him about the matter.

With so much freedom in the new castle, she was also able to visit him in the throne room when she was off work. Aradia was still in her maid service job and she enjoyed it more now without the threats of the former King. She was happy to clean without him waiting at her back every second of the day, making sure if she missed a speck of dust she was punished.

But perhaps the most important upgrade was the new honorable position of the John human. He spent his hours out of the castle, making sure the citizens of the city were happy. They had grown into joyful people in the following years since the Queen had returned. They had a reason to live and they were cared for instead of ruled over. John was the friendliest of his companions and naturally able to talk to people, was assigned the role of being exactly what he was, a friendly person. He walked around town, making sure people had places to live, making sure children were being taken care of properly, making sure there was food on people's tables. He was proud of this job. He had gone from cowering in a corner to standing tall as a servant of the Queen. And he was content with his work.

But right now, he sat at the dining table and listened to the opinions of his acquaintances as they conversed about the new schedule idea. The idea was passed around the table, the idea of being able to sleep in longer appealing to the workers. They all seemed to agree that this new system sounded much nicer and much more organized than the last. And the Queen seemed to agree.

She signed the documents Karkat had written and stamped it with pink ink, approved. He nodded to her, as did everyone else, in respect of her choice. Sollux stood and went to the kitchen with Terezi to serve dinner. The trolls and humans sat in patience, waiting for their food to be served. Everything was going as usual and after dinner, everyone went to work to finish the things they hadn't been able to do earlier in the day.

Sollux and Terezi cleaned dishes, Aradia made sure there were no new things to clean, Kanaya and Nepeta made sure the paperwork was complete, Tavros stayed by the Queen's and Gamzee's sides, waiting for a new task, and Vriska played soft evening music on the grand piano. John and Karkat had nothing new to do. After dinner hours, John stayed inside and did as he pleased, and Karkat had already done all of the things needed to do by morning.

The two made their way to their shared room, Rose's old room. She was in a steady relationship with the nurse and her room was unoccupied. John collapsed onto the bed while Karkat stood in front of the full-body mirror, untying the knot in his tie. His job required him to wear black pants and a button up. That wasn't so annoying to him though as the tie he was always complaining was choking him.

He pulled it off and tossed it over the rocking chair in the corner along with his now unbuttoned and removed shirt. He fell onto the bed, laying quietly on his stomach, John rolling over to his stomach and watching him silently, his cheek resting on his crossed arms. Karkat opened his yellow eyes to look back at him. The two had grown up a lot in the last three years. They were no longer 16, but 19. their bodies had matured, their muscles had grown, their relationship had advanced. They were the two most compatible people in the castle. Of course it didn't start like this. The first year of their relationship was much like the first month; hectic.

They had a lot of arguments and disagreements, but after a while, they began to understand each other more, sympathize, understand, and get along. They would refrain from doing those amusing things to set each other off and they would try their hardest to keep on track.

Now they were used to each others' set-offs and knew exactly how to make the other happy. John sat up and leaned back against the headboard, waiting for Karkat to sit in front of him for their nightly routine. John sighed calmly as Karkat sat in front of him, his gray skin making John smile. He loved the different color of his skin from his own. He rested his hands on Karkat's shoulders, rubbing his thumbs into the muscles on his back.

The troll sighed in contentment. "Hey John..."  
John looked up questioningly. "Yeah?"  
The troll smiled. "You think we'll be here forever? I always wonder what we'll be doing when we're older. Will we still be working here? Or will we be off in our own home somewhere?"  
John had heard Karkat mention this kind of thing a few other times.

He honestly wasn't sure what they'd be doing in the future. He hoped they would be able to retire sometime when they got into their later years, find a nice house here in The Royal City, or maybe in Ventrille, somewhere where they could visit their friends, should they too stay in the castle or The Royal City.

He shrugged, still running his thumbs over Karkat's tense back.  
"I don't know, Kar. I hope we won't have to go too far away from our friends. You never know what'll come. As long as you're here, I don't care where we go," he said, resting his cheek against the trolls warm back, in between the shoulder blades.

Karkat smiled and turned around, to start his part of the routine. John liked to stay close at night so often times he would snuggle with him, kiss him, they might go to bed a little closer together than usual... or they'd have sex.

Karkat had to laugh at the memory of those few times John had been a little loud and pissed off their room neighbor, Dave. John and Dave had become good friends in the last few years but one thing Karkat knew was he didn't appreciate being woken at the early hours of the morning to the desperate moans of his lover.

Karkat could always laugh when he re imagined Dave stomping angrily to their door and pounding on it. Karkat opened it and smiled cockily at the blond, who was fuming and about ready to burst. He tried unsuccessfully to keep his cool. "Vantas, if you and John don't shut up and let me sleep, I'm going to castrate both of you!"

Of course Karkat wasn't aware of whether or not anyone had been woken up by this loud threat. He hoped Dave hadn't actually been as loud as he remembered him being. He laughed it off and shut the door, turning back to John, who sat on his knees, a blanket clutched at his chest to cover his naked body.

Karkat enjoyed these memories and he was sure if he were to mention it to Dave after so long he'd probably just laugh at it. After all, Dave was with his own partner now. Sollux and Aradia had broken up a couple years ago. They hadn't had time to work their relationship in around Aradia's schedule and Aradia was known for telling things how they were, which annoyed Sollux. The two had ended it in an arguing feud, later making up for it but sticking with the decision to go their own separate ways.

Sollux and Dave hit it off and became a thing not so long ago, occasionally even waking Karkat up when it was Dave's room they decided to meet at. He wouldn't lie that it amused him rather than annoyed him but one of these days he would have to bang on Dave's door, yelling about how Dave should stop screaming like a girl before he castrated them both, just for old time's sake.

But somehow Karkat knew things were going to change soon, which is why he brought up the subject to John. He could feel a change in the air, telling him that he wouldn't have the chance to make such a joke to the blond human. He felt sad about the whole ordeal but had to trust that John was right, that no matter what happened, they would always be together. John laid in Karkat's arms as they fell asleep that night, reminding him that he was okay here and now and he could worry about the future when it became the present.

~

Karkat awoke to the uncomfortable sound of someone knocking loudly on his door.  
"H-Hang on," he said, stumbling out of bed as he pulled the covers over John and pulled some pants on, walking to the door. He opened it to see the former King standing at his door. The King had grown to be less bitter over the last few years and he had taken a back seat during the Queen's rule, learning about how things should be properly handled.

The man looked hysterical now though. He had purple liquid filling up around his eyes, threatening to spill over as tears. "Karkat! Look at this! Sh-she's gone!"  
Karkat creased his forehead as he took a letter from Eridan's hands. He read it over carefully. It was very specific that they had taken the Queen captive and would not give her back until someone arrived with a ransom. Eridan hurriedly explained that the note had been left on the sill of the window but during the raining last night, rain had soaked the entire bottom part of the paper, smudging the freshly written ink that had been very recently written on the paper.

The location in which they were to hunt for her was completely demolished. If the lines had just been smudgy, Karkat may have been able to read them, but the ink was completely spread over the bottom part of the paper in a layer of dark gray. He growled and handed the letter back to Eridan.  
"This is going to be up to me isn't it?" he said, suddenly feeling tired.  
Eridan nodded.  
"There's no one I trust more than you. Take 4 more people with you. I want her back here alive. This can't be put off longer than tomorrow morning. Get packing," he said as he turned to leave in a hurry.


	2. Chapter 2

John sat on the edge of the bed while he watched Karkat folding clothes and putting them in his suitcase. "So... Who are we taking?"

Karkat was still uneasy about John going but he didn't think he'd be able to go without him. He had been running names through his mind all morning, trying to think of which people would be best to take. He could take three people plus John. He had already made up his mind on Sollux. He had to wonder though, would Sollux go without Dave or would he have to take Dave too?

He was sure he wanted to take Gamzee too but Gamzee wasn't a necessity and he couldn't afford to take anyone who wouldn't be worth the space and provisions. Kanaya. Yes, Kanaya would be worth the space. They would need a nurse. Okay one space left.

He couldn't think of who to take. He would figure it out later. He was paused in front of his suitcase and forgot John had even asked a question. John watched him curiously as he turned suddenly and stalked out of the room in a haze.

He took in his surroundings as he walked to the nurse's office. He knocked lightly on the door, Kanaya appearing a few seconds later. "Karkat. May I help with anything?"  
"No," he said, shaking his head. "The Queen has been taken hostage and I have to go find her. I have to take some people with me and you're one of my choices."  
Kanaya seemed shocked. "Wait wait, back up. The Queen has been taken hostage? What for?"  
"A ransom."  
"People disgust me. I don't think I'll be able to go, though. What would the village do without a nurse? I have to be here  
to take care of them."  
Karkat thought this over. "But whoever I choose is being called to a direct order by the King."  
Kanaya shook her head at him. "I cannot. Why not take Nepeta? I can do without her for a while and she knows almost as much as I do."

Karkat thought this over for a minute, watching her calculatingly before deciding that would work fine. "Alright, go get her for me."  
"She isn't here right now, she's down in the prison with Equius."  
"Okay, thanks," he said before leaving the room.

He rolled his eyes and turned towards the stairway to the prison, jogging down them and hooking a right to put himself in front of Equius' door. He knocked and the blue-blood opened up.  
"Yes?"  
"Nepeta's here?"  
Equius nodded. "Yes. Is she in trouble?"  
"No, no. I need to talk to her."

Equius set aside his suspicion and motioned his moirail over. Nepeta bounced in the doorway. "Karkitty!"  
Karkat winced at the name. "Listen, I have an important proposition to make."  
"I'm listening."  
"The Queen is being held hostage somewhere for a ransom. I have to go find her and bring her back safely and I have orders to bring some people with me. I was going to bring Kanaya but she refuses to go and asked me to bring you. Not that you aren't good enough but... Kanaya has more experience... Anyway, I need you to be packed to go by tomorrow morning."

Nepeta seemed in shock. "Wait, where are we going?"  
Karkat shrugged. "Anywhere and everywhere until we find her."  
Nepeta nodded seriously. "Alright, I'll get ready right away."

Equius seemed to have other plans. While Nepeta scurried off back to her room to pack her things, Equius pulled Karkat into his room and pushed him against the wall by the door. "Listen to me and listen to me carefully, Vantas. If she comes back here with so much as a scratch on her I will personally tear your spine out and feed it to the Salt Dragon. Got it?"

Karkat scrunched up his nose. "Yeah, yeah, I had no intention of anyone getting hurt anyway. She isn't there to fight she's there to make sure we're all in one piece. Now let me go."  
Equius let go of the fistful of shirt and nodded at him before Karkat smoothed down the material and left.

He hopped back up the stairs, two at a time, and went into the kitchen to find it empty. He turned into the hallway and trudged through, wondering why they didn't put any skylights in here. It was pitch black and he had to be careful not to trip.

He knocked on Sollux's door and smiled when he opened up. He grinned, pointed teeth showing up over the edge of his lip. "Hey, KK, what's up?"  
"I need you on a mission."  
Sollux scoffed. "Sounds serious what's goin' on?" He honestly didn't think it would be a big deal. Karkat always went to Sollux for help.  
"The Queen is being held for a ransom and I need you to be one of the people who goes with me to get her back."

Sollux's smile dissipated. "You're kidding right?"  
Karkat shook his head.  
"But, I... who's gonna cook?" Sollux gaped. "Who's gonna make food for the King and stuff? I can't just... I can't leave."  
"Have Terezi do it. I know you've been teaching her how to cook so don't pretend like all she can do is set the table. Come with me. We need you. You know how to fix things. You know how to cook. You're fun."  
"We?"  
"Yeah, me, you, Nepeta, John, and I have room for one more person but I don't know who yet."  
"We have to take Dave. I'm not going without Dave."  
Karkat winced. "But... I'm trying to bring the people who're going to be useful. No offense."  
Sollux squinted. "What about John? What's he useful for?"

Karkat hadn't expected that. He shifted feet defensively before responding, "I- He can get jobs and do physical labor to keep us afloat. We'll need money."  
Sollux wouldn't accept that. "Yeah? Why can't Dave do physical labor? He isn't a pansy just because he plays piano. As a matter of fact he's a fighter. I bet you didn't know that. Dave is a swordsman. He can help us fight off anyone in case of emergencies."

Karkat couldn't argue with that. "Fine. We can take him. But if he expects us to do all the work, I'm sending him back."  
Sollux relaxed a little. "Alright."  
Karkat nodded, letting his crossed arms fall to his sides. "Be packed and ready to leave by morning."  
Sollux nodded and closed his door.

Karkat sighed and walked quietly to Dave's room to find it empty. He searched around but couldn't find him. He walked to the throne room to find him playing piano. He looked up to see Karkat walk in and continued playing. "I heard the news."

Karkat was glad he didn't have to explain again. He nodded. "You're going with me."  
"No I'm not."  
"Yes. You fucking are," Karkat growled.  
Dave quirked an eyebrow. "Why? What could I possibly be of help with?"  
Karkat shook his head. "Sollux demanded you go if he goes. And I hear you know how to fight."  
Dave's fingers came to a halt on the piano. "Why did he tell you that?"  
"Because I said you would be useless to take with us."  
"Well. I guess you know now," Dave scoffed. "I try to keep it a secret. It comes in handy for people to underestimate me."  
Karkat raised an eyebrow. "That's surprising. I would think you'd like to brag about it all the time. You know, since you think you're so cool."  
Dave didn't deny that he thought he was cool.

He stood. "Guess I'll go get ready. When are we leaving?"  
"Tomorrow morning."  
"Alright."

Dave left the room and Karkat was left alone. He looked around the dim room and swung on his heel to go down the hall. He stopped at a door and knocked loudly. His friend opened his door and smiled, "What motherfuckin brings you all up and over here, bro?"

"Well... I'm leaving for a while," he said as he let himself in.  
Gamzee frowned. "Why?"  
Karkat lay back on Gamzee's bed. "Gotta go save the Queen. Someone took her for a ransom and I have to go save her."  
Gamzee lay back next to him. "Why you?"  
"How should I know?" he shrugged. "I guess... The King trusts me. He knows I get down to business and all that jazz and thinks I'm best suited for it. So I've been gathering up a bunch of people to take."  
Gamzee turned his head to look at him.

Karkat took in a deep breath. "I don't know how long I'll be gone. I want you to go with me."  
Gamzee smiled. "Sweet When a-"  
"But you can't."

"Oh," he said as his smile disappeared.  
Karkat frowned and turned onto his side to wrap his arms around his moirail. Gamzee hugged back.  
"I hope I won't be gone long."  
Gamzee nodded. "Me too, bro."

They snuggled for a while but Karkat looked up to a knock on the door. "Come in."  
Tavros popped his head in. "Oh. I didn't know you were over, Karkat. Should I leave?"  
Karkat shrugged. Gamzee looked over. "Nah, Come 'ere."  
Tavros wandered inside and shut the door behind him before going to sit on the edge of the bed.

"What's wrong?"  
"Kar's gotta leave for a while," he responded, nuzzling into Karkat's neck.  
Tavros sighed. "Where are you going?"  
"Dunno yet."  
"What do you mean? Then why are you leaving?"  
"The Queen is being held for a ransom. Me and some others are going to find her."  
Tavros raised an eyebrow. "Oh."

Karkat sat up, "I'll be back in a while."  
"You're leaving right now?"  
Karkat shook his head. "No, not til morning. I just have some stuff to do."  
Gamzee nodded and flopped back down onto his pillow.

Karkat left the room and ran to the throne room to knock on Eridan's door. He opened it after a few minutes, wiping at his eyes and sniffing before speaking up. "Yes?"  
Karkat bit his lip. "Can I take an extra person?"  
Eridan wondered over this. "How many people did I say to take?"  
"...Five."  
"Absolutely not. Five is enough. You don't want to draw attention to yourselves."  
"Okay."  
Karkat sighed theatrically as if he was disappointed.

He walked away and as Eridan shut the door, threw a fist in the air. He sprinted back to Gamzee's room.

He knocked quickly, opening the door without waiting to see Tavros sitting by Gamzee, running his fingers through his hair. Gamzee turned over to see who it was. "Hey, bro."  
Karkat smiled and jumped onto Gamzee's bed. "Guess who's going with me?"

Gamzee perked up.  
"Tell me," he said, smiling.  
"You. Eridan is too dumb to remember how many people he told me to bring so you're going with me."  
"What a motherfuckin miracle." He grinned. "What about Tav though? I guess he can't come..."  
Gamzee looked over to Tavros but Tavros shook his head. "I wouldn't wanna go anyway. I would be a wreck if I had to travel. I'll miss you though."

Tavros seemed a bit sad that Gamzee would be leaving but he also seemed happy to see Gamzee getting to go. Tavros and him loved each other but Tavros had no idea how to handle Gamzee's problems like Karkat could. The two were inseparable. If Karkat wasn't around Gamzee would probably go insane.

Gamzee jumped out of bed and dug through his drawers to find some suitable traveling clothes. He had his jesting outfits but he did have some other clothes. He grabbed a bag from the closet and started folding clothes to put inside.

"Alright... meet us all by the fountain in the morning, six sharp."  
He stood and Gamzee waved over his shoulder. Karkat left the room and walked contentedly to his own. John had apparently finished packing their bags and was nowhere to be seen. Karkat raised an eyebrow and unlatched his suitcase to look inside. His clothes were all folded neatly and his old leather bag was tucked in a corner in case they needed extra space.

He smiled and closed the suitcase, latching it and sinking down on the bed. Since the Queen wasn't around today, he was wearing more comfortable clothes and he was part glad he could go on this trip. Traveling was more his style. He wasn't much for staying in one place. That's why he was itching to get moving. He had been here for three years already and he was ready to take a break for a while. He would be glad when he came back but he needed time to travel.

He looked up and smiled when John came in, hair wet from bathing. "Thanks."  
"For what?"  
"Packing my suitcase."  
"Oh. No problem," John smiled.

Karkat stood to take his shirt and pants off. "We could be gone for months. With four other people."  
It hit John immediately. "Shit..."  
He pulled his shirt off too. "Guess we'll have to make up for lost time."  
Karkat smiled and pulled John close around the waist. "That's a lot of time to make up."  
He pressed their lips together.


	3. Chapter 3

The fountain splashed behind Karkat while he waited for everyone to arrive. Dave was first to pull himself out of bed and join him with a rucksack slung over his shoulder Karkat turned as he walked up behind him. "Did you bring blankets or a pillow or something?"  
"I have a blanket in my bag."  
"I hope that's enough. Don't complain when you're cold at night."  
"Sollux is bringing a bunch more."  
"And?"  
"And why lug around a shit ton of blankets when we can share some."  
Karkat rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

He waited a little longer before deciding that no matter what time he'd woken John up at, he probably wasn't going to actually get up until Karkat went back to their room and dragged him out of bed. He stood from his seat on the fountain's edge and trudged back to their room. He opened the door and stuck his head in to see that John was, indeed, still lying in bed, his legs and arms tossed in whichever way was most comfortable.

Karkat sighed and opened the door further to step inside. He walked alongside the bed until he was kneeling next to John's face. He tapped the boy on the shoulder, waiting for his eyes to open. He squinted into the darkness until he noticed Karkat's shocking yellow eyes right next to his face. He jumped back.  
"Geez, don't do that!"  
"Sorry. I just thought maybe you deserved it since I've been waiting for you to get up for like twenty minutes. We need to leave, get up."  
"I'm too tireddd!"

John grabbed onto his pillow, seeking its feather-filled comfort while he tried to ignore the glare Karkat was shooting his way. "John, get up. We have to go soon."  
"Noooo."

Karkat sighed. He really hadn't been looking forward to using brute force but it seemed this was the way things were going to go. He reached down and hooked his arms under John's, pulling him from the warmth of the bed. The boy was stubborn though and proceeded to grab onto the headboard with gusto, "I'm not leaving!"  
"John, we have to fucking leave!"  
"Nooo, I'm sleeping!"  
"I don't care. You are going to get onto your feet, you are going to put clothes on, and we are going to go find the god damned Queen!"  
"Make me!"  
"I am fucking making you!"

Karkat had his arms wrapped around John's chest now and pulled with every inch of his body, John's fingers slipping from the bars of the headboard to leave them on the floor in a pile of tangled limbs, pillows, and blankets.

Karkat growled and lifted John to his feet, holding onto his shoulders and blowing in his face. John swayed but stayed on his feet.  
"Fine. Asshole."  
"I'm an asshole? Blame the douchebags that are holding our Queen hostage."  
"Fine. They're assholes."  
"Yeah, they are. Now put some damned clothes on and help me make the bed."  
Karkat tugged at the blankets on the bed until they were lined up and then organized the pillows at the top. John was still attempting to pull some clothes on correctly by the time he was finished. It seemed that instead of John helping with the bed, Karkat would be helping John with clothes.

He walked over, heaving a sigh of annoyance as he helped John pull his pants up. John smiled at him.  
"Thanks."  
He pulled his tunic on and grabbed his suitcase from the chair he had set it on. Karkat grabbed his outside the door as he walked John back to the fountain. By now, Sollux and Nepeta had joined the group.

"Where the fuck is Gamzee?"  
No one answered so Karkat set his suitcase on the floor and stalked to the back hallway. He banged on Gamzee's door and when it wasn't opened, twisted the knob and looked inside. He sighed. He should have expected to see Tavros here. They were likely thinking the same thing John and Karkat were last night.

He stepped inside and walked over to the bed, tapping Tavros on the shoulder. Tavros squinted his eyes until he could see Karkat next to him. "Karkat?"  
"Tell your idiot of a matesprit to get his ass out to the fountain in five minutes."  
Tavros sat up fast. "Oh! I'm sorry, I was supposed to wake him up. He'll be out in a few minutes."  
"He'd better be." Karkat rolled his eyes and left the room.

He went out to the fountain and made himself comfortable on the edge where he was sitting before anyone was out here with him. Sollux had a suitcase in his hands and a rucksack over his back with blankets folded inside. Nepeta seemed to be carrying the most. She had a large suitcase in hand that probably had her blankets inside as well as clothes. She also had a rucksack hanging off her back and a bag of medical supplies. John had their blankets in his suitcase so Karkat had a light load. He reached out to take Nepeta's suitcase.

"Oh! Thank you." She smiled and blushed. Karkat looked up when Gamzee came into the room, a heavy looking suitcase crammed full of stuff.

"Alright, let's go."  
Karkat told everyone to wait there and went out the side door, walking around back of the castle. He came back in to get everyone and they came outside to see a wagon and two horses. He had taken a while to convince Eridan to let them use the wagon and two horses instead of a single cart but managed to win him over when he reminded him it would bring Feferi back faster. It seemed like they had way too much stuff but he hadn't fit that much into his suitcase. It wasn't like he was just taking a week's hike through the mountains, they had to leave for an indefinite amount of time. It was cramped in the wagon and Karkat was glad he was driving, John situated on the seat next to him.

Karkat grabbed the reigns and urged the pair forward, moving them down the pathway that lead out the gates of the castle. The first part of the trek was rather uneventful. It was the same trek Karkat had made twice now; from the castle, through the mountains, and home to Ventrille.

They had to stop a lot for people to move around. Sollux seemed to be rather claustrophobic and had to move around a lot, trying to sit different places to see if it would help him not feel so cramped.

"KK, I'm cramped."  
"Get over it you horrible excuse for a troll."  
"Come on Kk, it's not like I'm used to being in tight spots like this. I'm in the kitchen all day with as much space as I want. Do you really expect me to be used to riding in a wagon with three other people and luggage taking up all the breathing space?"  
"Dude, quit complaining."  
"I need to take a break."  
"There is no taking of breaks."  
"I'm going to DIE."  
"Get on the horse."  
"What?"  
"Get on the fucking horse!"  
"Gimme a second to get a blanket to sit on."  
"fuck blankets, get on the damned horse or quit complaining."  
Sollux growled and heaved himself onto the horse.

They stopped that night on the outskirts of The Royal City. There was a cave here Karkat had slept in numerous times. The floor was rough and rocky and not at all pleasant to sleep on. Sollux was the first to lay out his blankets, layering them so the rough ground wouldn't ruin his sleep. Dave sat down next to him and leaned against the rock wall. Karkat sat down on his and John's makeshift bed and looked around to make sure everyone was almost done setting up their blankets and pillows.

John laid down and pulled the blanket up to his shoulder, wiggling around to get comfortable.  
"We do still need to make a plan. John get the fuck up you aren't sleeping until I'm done formulating a plan of action."  
"Finee." John sat up and situated himself next to Karkat, leaning in to get warm by the fire he'd started earlier.

"We need to figure out where we're headed next." Karkat pulled a map from his suitcase and laid it out on the ground.  
"We need to go west once we hit the heart of Ventrille. From there we should travel up the coast to Stone Cliff City. I think we can spare the rest of our travel plans for another night though since our next course of action really depends on what happens in Ventrille and Stone Cliff."  
"How do we know Stone Cliff will be of any use to us?" Dave had an eyebrow raised and leaned in to hear the answer to his question.  
"Well, we don't, but we have to start somewhere."  
"Can I sleep yet?" John was leaning into Karkat's shoulder and was ready to fall over in his tired stupor.  
"Yeah, yeah, you can all sleep now."

No one wasted time pulling their blankets over themselves and falling asleep, ready for the next day in Ventrille.


	4. Chapter 4

The next morning, their journey continued. The week long trip to Ventrille proved to test their limits. It was a dirty, hard, and uncomfortable trip. Their last night before entering Ventrille was spent on a mountain much like the one near the Royal city. They camped half a mile into the woods by a pond where the trees protected them from the wind but the moon could reach to light their way. The next morning the fire sparked and Sollux grunted as he pulled a pan from the flame, eggs sizzling and cracking on the hot iron. He slid the food onto a wooden plate and handed it to Nepeta.

When everyone had food, Karkat spoke up. "Alright everyone, we're coming up to Ventrille. This is my home town and if any of you douchebags do anything to shove whatever existing dignity I have left, down the toilet, I will pull you to the outskirts of town and maim you. Got it? We're going to be stopping by the Postal Service building I lived and worked in. I have friends there too and we'll probably be staying there overnight so try to get along with them."

Sollux looked up. "Do they have a kitchen?"  
"Yes they have a kitchen."  
"Good I've been itching to cook some real food on a real stove. This over-the-fire stuff is killing me."  
"It's killing all of us too, I'm sure."

John laughed and set his plate on the ground, picking up his blanket and shaking the grass out of it so he could fold it and put it back with his bag. After a while, when everyone was done eating, John looked around and noticed Karkat was nowhere to be seen. He stood from his perch on the edge of the wagon and walked back the way they had entered along a worn path in the ground. Other travelers had apparently traveled through here with carriages and wagons.

Karkat was walking around in the sunlight outside the woods. He paced back and forth, waiting for the sun to fully appear from behind the thick forest down below. Morning was just starting to show itself but he'd been up early, eager to leave but forcing himself not to wake everyone else up. He was nervous about seeing his old friends. He hadn't been to the Post Building in over a sweep and his nerves were getting the better of him. He forced himself to stand still for a few minutes while he watched the sun rising and as soon as it made itself known, he jumped as John tapped him on the shoulder.

"Hey, you excited to get going?"  
"Yeah I am."  
John leaned forward, looking at his matesprit. "Listen, I don't know on what level you underestimate me but I can tell there's something wrong."  
"Yeah, no kidding, I'm going to see two of my old friends for the first time in almost two sweeps. Nothing nerve-racking about that."  
"Well, I guess I can see your point but that's not all that's wrong. You aren't telling me something."  
Karkat stopped and glared at his matesprit.

"Fine, I'm a bit on edge about one of them."  
"What's their name?"  
"Her name is Kasuki…"  
"What are you nervous about her for?"  
"Well… I used to be really pale for her and Gamzee is with us and I'm a bit on edge about them meeting…"  
"What's so scary about it?"  
"I think she might have been slightly pale back…"  
"Oh… Well Karkat, you just said yourself, it's been three years. If you aren't pale for her still, what makes you think she'd be pale for you?"  
"I don't know, I'm just fucking retarded."  
"No you aren't, quit being like that."

Karkat went back to pacing. "What if she isn't there?"  
"Why wouldn't she be? You said the Queen left them in charge, didn't you?"  
"Yeah…"  
"So why wouldn't they be there?"  
"I don't know."

The two headed back to camp to see the group had their belongings packed in the cart and were waiting for John and Karkat to leave. When they noticed the two had returned they all found places to sit, Sollux claiming his spot on one of the horses. Said horse's name was Remy, Equius' horse. He let them take him because Nepeta had asked. She thought the horse might make her feel closer to him.

Karkat steered the horses to the cliff and pondered over some things before directing his friends to get out of the cart. "The path down the mountain is steep and I don't want the horses getting hurt from too much weight pushing on them from behind. Us carrying our own weight is like 700 pounds they don't have to hold up. I've scaled this cliff a hundred times before, it's not that high and doesn't take that long. John, you can lead them down the mountain and meet us at the bottom of the cliff. We aren't very high up the mountain so it shouldn't take more than about twenty minutes."

John took the reigns and led the two horses down the mountain while the others followed Karkat's lead and began down the steep cliff, Karkat taking the lead. Everything was going smoothly and he was the first one down. He looked up to see everyone doing fairly well until he noticed Sollux's foot slip and a few profanities made their way out of his mouth.

"Holy shit, okay, I am definitely not doing okay right now, someone help me before I fall to my untimely death."  
Karkat rolled his eyes. He was like five feet off the ground, "Holy shit, Sollux, just jump."  
"Absolutely fucking not."  
Karkat walked over to the cliff side and grabbed his hanging feet, pulling him down from his hanging position on the rock wall. He fell and landed on his feet, "You douche, you could have given me a warning."  
"I did, it was called option A: get the fuck off the cliff yourself."

Sollux glared at the shorter troll and walked away from the side of the cliff to watch everyone else as they descended to the ground.

The group waited until John appeared around the other side of the cliff with the wagon. They all climbed back in their seats and started towards Ventrille, Karkat urging the horses forward when he saw the form of the Postal Services building on the outskirts of town. He slowed as they got closer.

The shop that was once full of life and bright colored paint was now just a rundown and abandoned building that seemed to have no life left in it at all. Karkat could hardly stand the sight but at John's encouragement, he managed to keep the horses moving.


	5. Chapter 5

Karkat continued towards the rundown building and, despite his broken heart, he managed to stop the wagon, descend from his seat, and raise a hand to knock on the door. There was a deathly silence in the building, the only noise being his friends muttering behind him. He was preparing to turn around and leave when a noise could be heard from within and the door suddenly flew open.

A disgruntled woman stood in the doorway, hands covered in dirt and pants soaked through with water and mud up to her knees. She used the back of her hand to wipe a layer of sweat off her forehead.  
"Can I help y-" Her darting eyes fell on Karkat and she bit off the end of her own sentence, tilting her head faintly, "... Karkat Vantas?"

Karkat waved and she stood up straighter, sighing heavily and gesturing for the party to come inside.  
"The horses can be hitched up in back and the wagon can be brought up to the double doors on the side of the building for you to bring your things inside."  
The weary girl went back inside, going through another door, past the post office and into the house part of the building.

Karkat wrung his hands and hung next to Gamzee, accidentally bumping into him when someone walked past. Gamzee looked down at him, "Somethin' motherfuckin wrong, bro?"  
"Mm mm." Karkat shook his head and followed Sollux into the other room leaving Gamzee to watch his back in wonderment.

Kasuki was in the kitchen washing her hands. She went to the fridge and pulled out some fruit, got out a cutting board, and starting to chop the fruits into pieces. Karkat watched her from the couch. "Kasuki, what happened to this place?"  
Kasuki had been expecting this question but in her surprise, the knife slipped and she nicked her finger, light green blood lining the cut. She winced and tossed the piece of fruit in the trash, washing off the knife and her finger in the sink.

"Uh, well... when Damian left, I couldn't handle it on my own. I have no one to deliver messages. So I tried to accept parcels on one day of the week and deliver them the rest of the days but it wasn't working out right and I got more than I had bargained for. I couldn't find anyone who could take Damian's place so everything fell apart. I have no job. I'm going to be out of money soon and won't have anything left but this building."  
Karkat felt a pang of pity and immediately shoved it aside. "Well why don't you go into the city and post ads for hire?"  
"I don't have any paper or anything and everyone I've offered a position to has said they aren't interested."

Karkat tried to think of some way he could help. He looked around at his friends, hoping they would have the hospitality to go along with his idea.

"Well if you need some help around here, I'm sure my friends would be glad to help. We could clean up the house a bit and help you with the outside. It looks abandoned from the road, I'm not surprised you lost service."

Kasuki smiled. "That would be amazing of you guys."  
Karkat could feel the aggressive stares of his party resting on him. They would get over it. The least they could do if they were going to stay here for the night was carry their own weight. When Kasuki finished cutting up fruit, she shoved all the pieces off the counter into a bowl and put it on a table where everyone could help themselves.

The group picked at fruit and talked about where they were headed, explaining the situation to Kasuki, who was just as in the dark on the matter as all of the cities who had yet to receive word of the queen's kidnapping. As noon began to come around, Karkat finally stood up. "Alright, let's decide who's going to do what."  
Sollux groaned and eyed Dave who seemed mildly annoyed.  
"Sollux, how about you do the kitchen since that's your thing."  
Sollux rolled his eyes and looked around the kitchen to see that it was in ill repair. The entire place was a mess and half of the appliances looked broken. He could make magic happen with a few hours in here. Despite his originally sour mood on cleaning he found himself kind of happy for the project.

"Gamzee," Karkat turned to his moirail, "you're going to work on the landscaping outside."  
"What kinda shit does that motherfucking entail?"  
"Picking weeds and planting flowers, basically."  
"Motherfuckin awesome."

"Yeah..." Karkat looked around, musing over positions. "John, you can work on fixing up the building from the outside. Kasuki, do you have any paint?"  
Kasuki looked up from a piece of apple she was studying intently. "Unfortunately I don't."  
Karkat walked over to his suitcase, pulling a brown coin pouch from inside and dumping a few silver disks into her palm.  
"Go buy a nice color. While she's gone, John, you can work on scrubbing off the walls and making sure windows are cleaned from the outside."  
"Hmkay," John nodded.

Karkat stuffed the pouch back in his bag and turned to Dave. "Dave you can clean the living room and upstairs hallway. Make it look like the castle."  
Dave rolled his eyes. "Yeah, whatever."  
"Nepeta, you clean the unoccupied bedrooms and the bathrooms."  
"Yes, sir!"  
"And I'll be supervising and helping in each room I'm needed in. Everyone get started."

Kasuki showed everyone where the cleaning supplies were and they all began working. Karkat started outside with John who was beginning to scrub off the door with a scrub brush. Dirt from the last sweep began running down the door and onto the cracked cement walkway. Gamzee seemed uncertain where to start on the overgrown mess. The grass was knee high and the weeds were overlapping each other.

Karkat went over to a weed, leaning down and pulling it out by the roots. He tossed it on the walkway. "Have fun."  
Gamzee grunted and knelt down, starting on the flower bed lining the walkway. Karkat began walking around, looking for someone who needed help. When he found no one in need of assistance, he went outside to help John with scrubbing off the dirt-streaked walls. Kasuki came back with paint a while later and set the canisters on the ground.

"What color did you get?"  
"See for yourself."  
Kasuki pried open the canister to reveal a welcoming peachy color. There was another can of the same color and one of white for the trim. Karkat nodded in approval and went back to John, helping him dry off the wooden surface of the post office. Kasuki pulled a paintbrush from the her bag and took the can over near a cleaned and dried part of the wall, beginning to paint. They worked like this for hours until the sun began to hang low in the sky, the horizon welcoming it into a warm embrace of orange and red.

Dave rubbed a wet cloth over the front window, scrubbing away the fingerprints and dirt collected there from years of neglect. He caught sight of Karkat outside the window and rubbed the wet cloth rapidly over a spot in the window. He finally grimaced and put his hands on his hips, lifting the window open with a flourish. "There's a spot on the window that looks really gross, is it on your side?"  
"No I've already cleaned my side. I don't see anything anyway."

Karkat moved over to wipe the wall dry on the other side of the window.  
"Oh... it's not there anymore. Oh well."  
Dave smirked and shut the window, Karkat squinting at him and glaring while continuing to work. Dave smirked and finished wiping down the window.

Sollux leaned out of the kitchen. "Quit flirting with Vantas."  
"Oh come on, how is that even flirting? I called him ugly."  
"Black moves, man. Black moves."  
Dave laughed. "I don't do black hate-love or whatever. I might as well be caliginous asexual. I don't do that."  
Sollux shook his head. "I sometimes don't understand humans at all. Actually, I almost never understand humans."

Dave chuckled and tossed the wet cloth in the sink, grabbing a cup from on the counter and filling it with lemonade. Sollux was cleaning out all the cabinets and replacing the dishes inside. The kitchen floor was sparkling clean and the ice chest shown.

Nepeta came down from upstairs, hair stuck to her forehead and panting. "It's hard work cleaning bedrooms. They look like they haven't been touched in years but they also look like whoever used to sleep in them just suddenly died and no one bothered cleaning up behind them. It was a wreck."

Dave shook his head. "You don't know wreck until you've seen as much dust as was in that living room. It was nasty."  
It was then that John, Karkat, Gamzee, and Kasuki came in from outside. Dave was at them in seconds. "Don't you dare come inside in those clothes."  
Karkat scoffed at him. "oh please Mrs. Strider, like I would ever think of tracking dirt across your lovely floors."

He rolled his eyes and pulled his shoes off, leaving them just inside the front door. The other three did the same and came inside, gathering clean clothes from their bags and heading upstairs to change in different rooms and bathrooms.

They came back down, cleaned and relaxed. Nepeta and Dave went up to change next, Nepeta grooming her hair out of her face and tying it up off her hot neck. Sollux was soon finished with his own cleaning and had stored all of the dishes where they belonged and followed suit. While the group rested up in the living room, Kasuki and her new friends sharing stories, no one noticed Sollux had come back downstairs in fresh attire and was busily pulling things from chests and cupboards in the kitchen. They stayed completely oblivious to his initiative until the aroma of hot soup drifted into the room.

"What the fuck is that?" Karkat followed his question by standing up and going into the kitchen, smiling at his friend. "I didn't even notice you were in here."  
"It's my natural habitat of course. I also needed to test out some of the newly fixed appliances. They all work just fine so far."

The rest of the group wandered into the kitchen and let out grunts of hunger and lighthearted praise for making dinner when none of the others had thought to. They filled up on beef soup and fresh bread before they all disappeared into the spare bedrooms upstairs, Sollux and Dave in one, John and Karkat in another, Gamzee comfortably knocked out on the couch, and Nepeta lounging around chatting with Kasuki while half asleep.

The next morning would bring about more adventure.


End file.
